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I’ve been blogging for almost a year and a half now, and over this time I’ve gradually upgraded and bought new things to help me on my way. I started off with my trusty old MacBook and Samsung Galaxy S2 phone for photos. Over the last 18 months I’ve not only upgraded my laptop and phone but I’ve also bought some new lighting and some other extra bits and pieces to make my life a bit easier. I thought I’d put together a post of all the technology I regularly use so you can see what goes on behind the scenes…

Sony NEX-5R Ahh my camera, my love! I bought this pretty early into my blogging ‘career’ as my old Samsung galaxy S2 just wasn’t up to the job. Close ups or less than perfect lighting were serious issues when using my S2 so I hunted all over the interwebs for reviews, advice and stats on proper cameras, wanting the best I could get for my relatively small budget. In the end I settled on the Sony NEX-5R. I chose this for a couple of reasons, apart from the fact that it’s a really great camera, you can also use image editing apps on the actual camera to save editing on your computer, and secondly because it has a 180 degree flip screen. I can’t tell you how handy this is when photographing your face! I ended up buying the twin lens kit with a 16-50mm lens and a 55-210mm lens included, for the bargain price of about £300 from ebay. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I bought this camera. If you’re looking for a new camera or to upgrade an old one, I’d definitely recommend this, or to at least put as much money as you can afford into getting a decent camera.

Sony SEL30M35 Macro Lens I can’t live without this lens. As soon as I bought my camera I knew I’d need a macro lens for those super close up shots which I love to do. Luckily I managed to get a second hand one from ebay. Until I started looking for a lens I had no idea how much they cost, so be prepared to be shocked at some of the prices! If you’re a beauty blogger I’d highly recommend you go for a macro lens if you can afford it, it’ll make all the difference to your photos. This lens will focus up to 2.5cm away from the subject so you can get some super see-all-the-pores snaps! Eeek! 😉

MacBook Pro. I went for a 13″ Macbook Pro, and I’ve never looked back. I used to have a standard MacBook, you know in the old white gloss style, which I loved and used for about 4 years, and before that I always had Mircosoft desktops. I used my white MacBook constantly, every day and evening and I’m so impressed that it lasted me that long. It’s actually still alive and well, it just got too slow for me. Apple were really good when I took it in to get checked over, they said there’s nothing wrong with it as such, just high usage and age had made it slow. They said they would clean it inside and out and replace the worn underside all for free – they’re good guys! I just need to get an external hard drive so I can back everything up before I take it in. My other half has now adopted this so it’s ‘his’ laptop now. Since buying my Pro, I know they’re expensive but they are excellent, I have to say I’d never go back to Microsoft now! It’s sooo much lighter than my previous Macbook and easy to move around. The battery lasts a good 6 hours and I can’t complain about it at all!

iPad Air Ok I don’t technically own an iPad – I wish! I can’t really justify spending more money after buying the MacBook, but luckily for me my mum has one! For my mum this is a very expensive way to browse Facebook, pay bills and play games, ha ha! But for me this is a nifty little tool for when I visit! This is by no means a replacement for a laptop, it just doesn’t have the functionality for me. But for social media sites, sharing, and WordPress, this is a super handy and portable gadget! 🙂

Logitech Ultrathin Magnetic Keyboard* Now this is another handy little gadget. If you have an iPad I can’t recommend one of these keyboards enough. Firstly it’s magnetic so it just clicks onto the iPad, which then auto recognises the keyboard’s attached and Bob’s your uncle! You have a fully functioning mini Keyboard! If, like me you find fast typing a bit of a pain in the butt on the iPad screen, this is the perfect gadget for writing. It’s compact but not too small, and it’s really thin and light making it super portable for when you’re on the go!

Walimex 75w Macro Ring Light It’s really since the beginning of this year that I decided I wanted to take my blogging seriously, I love beauty posts and have written loads of reviews amongst others, but I really wanted to get into makeup looks and tutorials. With work and generally being busy it’s so hard to wait for the right light so I can take photos, so I decided to bite the bullett and get a proper ring light. This thing is amazing. It’s brighter than the sun, but with daylight bulbs and no reflections the result is brighter, more even looking photos. You can get an idea of how it looks here.

Table Top Daylight Softboxes On the subject of lights, I also needed to up my game with my photography for reviewing products laid on a surface. I currently use either the windowsill, kitchen floor, or kitchen table, depending where the light is and which one works best for what I’m photographing. I’ve recently bought these soft box table top lights, originally with the idea that I’d use my bedroom chest of drawers to photograph from, but it turns out it’s too small / the lights are waaaay bigger than I was expecting! So, luckily I have a big white gloss dining table, which is now being set up for my photography. The kitchen looks like mini a studio now! 🙂

Samsung S5 Mobile Phone And where would I be without my phone, my trusty partner in life! Or is that meant to be my husband?? Anyway, I was due to upgrade my phone at the same time the S5 was released, April I think, and it was a toss up between this or an iPhone 5S. I’ve always been against the grain and gone for Samsung and HTC phones, but I really was considering an iPhone this time, I just wanted the best phone available at the time. After comparing the stats between both phones, the Samsung definitely came out on top.

Talking of handy things, if you like a clean white background as I do, these White Acrylic Sheets are super nifty. They only cost a couple of pounds and they’re perfect for creating a pristine white background. I keep one at my mum’s house for when I’m there too! 🙂

So I think that’s about it for all my technology and gadgets! I hope this post has been helpful and given you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes!

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About the Blog

Thou Shalt Not Covet… is a blog dedicated to my obsession with beautiful things, from fashion and make up, to lifestyle and travel. I will also be including product reviews, and anything else I want to share with the world!